Your
biography has been covered in your ProgArchives profile so let's
bypass the biography details. But which bands were you influenced by
and why did you choose that name ?

When
we met with other members of the band, we were all loving Led
Zeppelin, Genesis and Yes music, so thatís how the band started. At
this time I was listening to Transatlantic, Spockís Beard, The
Flower Kings or Dream Theater and I wanted to create some music with
that high level of quality. When we had to find a name, we searched
for something that could remind great explorers, because of the
experimental side of our music. Nemo was the perfect name, because of
the captain and because it is an international word. Itís a long
time before the fish...

How
is the music scene in France now and is it easy to get gigs there for
your band ?

Itís
almost impossible to tour in France for us. There is only a small
audience for our kind of music, and itís very hard for promoters to
book a band and to make money. I think itís the same in most
countries, but itís particularly hard in France. So we play more
often outside than inside France.

This
is an archive based interview also intended for the fans you get well
after both you and I have passed away so let's go straight to your
albums. Please tell us more about.....

Les
Nouveaux Mondes from 2002

In
2001 and 2002 we recorded some demos of the first songs we wrote.
Then we decided that these demos were good enough to make an album
and thatís how it started. The album was very well received here in
France and around the world in the progressive networks. All the
songs are quite good in it I think, but like every band first album
it contains a lot of imperfections. My
favourite song is ďDans la lune encoreĒ.

Prťsages
from 2003

After
this small success, we wanted to release the second album quickly. We
wanted to find a good label, but we didnít. Thatís when we
decided to go on releasing album by ourselves. The songs in Prťsages
are really good, but I donít like the sound of this album anymore,
itís not as good as it could have been. Just listen to the remake
songs in ďLa machine ŗ remonter le tempsĒ and you will know how
the songs could have been produced 

Prťlude
ņ La Ruine from 2004

This
one is really different of his predecessors. Itís more guitar
oriented, it really rocks! It was really fun to write, as we had a
lot of musical ideas. The album is relating the story of a man during
the twentieth century and for the first time we had to write the
music for the whole album instead of gathering different songs. It
was very interesting to do. The vocals and sound are as well much
better, even if itís not at the same quality level as today.

Immersion
Publique Ė Live from 2005

This
is our first Live album, full of energy and no overdubs. Iíve not a
lot of things to say because I donít like to listen to Live albums
that much. See it as a testimony of the first period of the band, for
fans .
The tracklist contains for equal parts tracks of the 3 previous
albums. The CD is out of print now.

Si
Partie 1 from 2006

After
the ę Prťlude ŗ la ruine Ľ experience, we wanted to
make a concept album in two parts to offer something bigger to the
fans. The album begins with the most intricate track we wrote in this
period: ďDouce mortĒ. I think that all songs in this album are
very special, and itís the favourite NEMO album of many fans. The
title track is one of my favorite Nemo songs! With ďSiĒ we met a
larger audience in the world.

Si
Partie II - L'Homme Idťal from 2007

This
is the second part of the concept about genetic manipulations. In
fact this is one single 56 minutes long song, separated in 10 tracks.
It talks about the search for perfect man, as Nazis did in the past.
A really frightening story that happens again in a more insidious
way. This is one of the most elaborate work we did until now, but in
the same time one of the most easy to listen. One of my favorite Nemo
albums.

Barbares
from 2009

After
the ę Si Ľ concept, we wanted to create an album with a
few really strong songs. Every track is very different from the
others, with stong themes and as always elaborate structures. It
contains the longest track we ever wrote ďBarbares (Parties I ŗ
VII)Ē and is our bestseller album. The limited edition was sold
with a second CD containing a 70 mns live album called ďSi LiveĒ,
which is sold out.

And
your new album Rťvolu$ion

As
always we wanted to explore differents paths with our music. The big
difference between RÄvolu$ion and the other albums is that it
really can be listened by non progster people! The basis of the music
did not change that much, but the form is more modern and the sound
is particularly powerful. Most of the tracks are shorter, (except the
Barbares sequel ďLoin des yeuxĒ) but still progressive. One of my
favourite song is ďSeul dans la fouleĒ, a long piece built on a
percussion loop.The concept is about money and the abuse of
capitalism.

How
would you describe you music and which bands would you compare
yourself with ?

I
think Nemo has a very personnal sound and music, and itís hard to
compare with other bands. We never wanted to sound like any other
band. Maybe you can hear some Led Zeppelin-like parts, or Dream
Theater-like parts sometimes, but we definitively donít sound like
these both bands! What I can say is that we like 70s rock in the way
the songs were built, modern prog like Porcupine Tree for the
athmospheres, 80s Hard Rock for the power, and many more genres like
Jazz Rock or Fusion. Our music is a mix of all that we like, in our
personnal way.

Your
vocals are in French and you are a French band. It seems to be a bias
towards English and US bands in the scene now. Do you feel that the
French lyrics and your nationality been a problem for your career or
has it been an advantage for you ?

Hard
to answer... The thing is that we have chosen in the beginning to
sing in French to be true to our music. I would not be able to write
the same kind of Lyrics in English, because itís not my mother
tongue. The words I write are important to me, because I want to say
what I donít like in this world. Too bad if the rest of the world
donít understand! 
They still can learn French, the same way I have to learn English if
I want to understand 90 percent of the songs I hear! This fact wonít
change, and I donít know if itís a good or a bad thing. The thing
Iím sure of is that takes part in the NEMO sound! People that like
the band donít want us to change this neither. Even American or
German people .The
sad side of the story is that many people will never listen to our
music because itís sung in French. Too bad for them 

How
difficult is it for a non English/US band to break into the scene ?

The
first thing is that you cannot find a serious music label if you
donít sing in English. Sad but true. The second, as I said before,
is that a large amount of people will never put a hear on your
records. Well, we donít care because we donít play music for
money and if our fate is to sell a few amount of CD all of our life
itís ok .
But iím sure we can reach a larger audience, the road is long but
we are not in a hurry.

How
is the creative processes in your band from coming up with an idea to
it's being recorded ?

Most
of time we bring not so elaborate ideas in the rehearsal room that we
try to mate with others. After a moment (between 10 mn and several
weeks) songs come to life, short or longs. Sometimes I bring almost
finished songs, and sometimes I bring demos. When the music and
melodies are ok, we write the lyrics (mainly I and Guillaume) and
itís time to go in the studio! We are lucky to be very productive
and we could easily write one album a year, but Iím not sure people
would buy them every time! 

What
is your current status and what is your plans for this year and
beyond ?

We
actually work on new songs, as always. What weíd like to do is tour
a bit more, and it could happen in 2012.

To
wrap up this interview, is there anything you want to add to this
interview ?

Iíd say thank you to
give us the chance to be read by people who donít know the band
yet. And to people: if you like our music emough, buy it! Thanks!

My wife and I adore this band, from their first album to the last (my favourite is Prelude... with Si 1 close after it). A wonderful band that progresses with their sound and approach. Glad to read this interesting interview. And to Jean Pierre: please continue to write and sing in French.

Love this band. All the albums are great, though I find myself preferring the earlier ones (I started with the first one and have bought each in succession since), with Presages being my absolute favorite, Barbares being my absolute least favorite (though still good). The new album is excellent and assuaged my fears that they were loosing their touch a bit (Barbares).

To JPL, please keep singing in French. I don't understand a word, but have friends who translate for me if I want to know what the songs are about.

Thanks to all of you for your comments!As I replied in the interview: yes we will go on singing in French. If it's a problem for you, please put a hear on the WolfSpring debut album :)http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=6197

And i you have any question that was not in the interview feel free to ask here, I'd be pleased to answer.

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